Hello,
Ramadaan is a month of fasting for Muslims all over the world. There are several other activities like prayers, charity etc associated with this month but what dominates conversation at offices is the fasting.
Fasting becomes important as it means giving up on a few of the favorite past times for Kuwaitis. They have to give up smoking, drinking Kahwa (coffee), Tea and eating the several in between snacks that keep them invigorated through normal days for their long sessions of gossip.
How tough is it for Non Muslims?
Not tough at all. The rule says that if you are caught breaking the fast in public you will be liable for a fine of KD 100/= or imprisonment till the end of Ramadaan or both. Every year we hear of some people getting caught but this breaking of the law I believe is more by mistake than by intent.
It is very easy to obey the rules. On general working days we start office at 7:30AM which means that we leave home at 6:45AM. Hardly a time to have breakfast. So mostly we end up taking a break for our breakfast at 9-9:30 AM. We then finish our office at 3:30 PM and are back home at 4 PM for our lunch.
During Ramadaan office starts at 9:30 AM and we start from home at 8:45 AM. As we are in the habit of getting up early and do not have to be awake at 3-3:30 AM like the Muslims do for their prayers, we end up having a leisurely breakfast.
At office between breakfast and end of office we have a few cups of coffee/tea. This is still available in the pantry even during Ramadaan.
Water drinkers have an issue but they keep the airconditioner at as low as possible and you can control your thirst quite easily. People who can not still have the choice of making it into the pantry.
Finally during Ramadaan we get off at 2:30 PM so we are back home for lunch at about 3:00PM that is a good time to have lunch.
As iftar is generally at 6:30 PM it is also OK for the tea break and thenafter we are free to visit restaurants and eat to our belly full anywhere.
So all in all I feel that we actually get into a good eating routine during Ramadaan. No wonder we put on weight during this one month.
Ramadaan is tough for the Muslims as they go without food and water for about 14 hours. They do not sleep properly and are irritable. It is difficult to concentrate on the work and as the refreshments are missing they do not want to talk as well. Finally it affects their hopes of being good and charitable and although they fast, do their prayers and read the koran the basic lesson of Islam for Ramadaan is not followed.
No one remains just and charitable. Your Kuwaiti boss has a tendency to fly off the hook at the slightest pretext and there is anxiety and tension in the office through out the month.
Finally people are happy when it is Eid.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
VAISHNO DEVI TRIP
Hello Friends,
A trip to the temple of Vaishno Devi should logically find a mention in my blog "One God" but as I am now going to describe my journey to the Temple and refrain from discussing anything else I find it more suitable to enter it in "Jaipurblogger".
The trip this time was not planned. In fact right from 2000, when I first visited the Temple very rarely have we been able to plan it in much advance. It is therefore strange that never have we faced any difficulty in reaching there and coming back home without any hiccups.
When we came back from Diu and Ahmedabad, I still had a lot of things to attend to at home in Jaipur and going to Vaishno Devi was furthest from my thoughts. I had Radhika's birthday coming up on 28th and we had also been discussing a get together of friends from SBBJ. But somehow all of a sudden Radhika insisted that plan the trip in between these events.
So I booked my plane tickets from Delhi to Jammu and back and started off for taking the bus from Narayansingh circle. I got the only vacant seat in the Bus and was off within two hours of having planned the trip.
The bus trip was uneventful if you ignore the fact that the lady (A Govt School teacher from Jaipur) sitting next to me insisted on pouring her heart out and telling me about the problems she was facing with her son. This young man was in his final year of Engineering at IIT and although a brilliant student, he was now adamant that he did not want to study any further. He had already got a job of teaching students on how to get thru GMAT (which he had cleared with flying colors) and was insisting that the Engineering Degree would not help help him in any significant way.
I would have agreed with his logic if he had taken this decision on joining but I felt he was a fool to drop out when he was almost thru. I told the lady about my trip to Vaishno Devi and took 52 rupees from her to put in the donation box at the temple. I asked he to visit the temle if her wish got fulfilled and her son agreed to complete his course.
I stayed the night at Mayur Vihar and took the morning flight to Jammu. When I boarded the flight I realized that I had booked a Executive class ticket on the KF flight. It was real comfortable journey. Jammu to Katra was covered by Taxi.
I had planned to stay in the Shrine Board hotel in Katra but the Taxi Driver, who obviously had some commission to make made me stay at a better place. I rested for an hour and then took off for the temple.
For people who have not visited the temple I will make the details as explanatory as possible.
You first have to que to get the Yatra Ticket at a place near Katra Bus Stand. Luckily I did not have to do this as the Hotel package was inclusive of the Yatra ticket supplied in the room. There is another que when you get to the foot of the climb. The frisking by the police takes place over here and sometimes (as it was with me this time) you do get a big crowd at this place.
I started climbing at 6 PM and when I did start I felt so comfortable that I decided that I will do the 11 KM uphill stretch in one go. Even after so many trips I once again forgot that the first couple of KMs is the toughest. I was fresh and full of excitement and therefore pressed hard over this stretch. By the time I finished this I was sweating profusely. I admit that the weather was humid but I was sweating much more than any of the other walkers. Anyway so after I had done the first stretch I took off my shirt so that I would at least have something fresh to wear when I entered the temple. My vest was wet and I thought then that with the difficult start covered and going up into the breeze I would have a dry vest by the time I completed the climb.
The journey is tough and people try to make it easy on themselves by singing songs praising the Devi. The facilities along the way are excellent with a cafe and restaurant located at every interval of two to three KMs. There are benches placed all along the route and in general the climbers encourage each other.
As decided by me I did not use the facilities and the bench and did a very fast non stop climb, completing the distance of 11 KM mostly uphill in two hours flat.
The vest was now so wet that the sweat had dripped into my underpants. When I completed the climb many people actually thought that I was roaming around after having taken a bath with my vest on. This gave me the idea of taking a bath at the ghats.
Most times when we have been to the temple we have booked a room at the top and have visited the temple after having a bath in the attached bathroom (reasonable facilities). So I reached the Men's ghat hoping that it would be a covered area. The ghat turned out to be an open space with taps. I took the bath with my underwear on and then discarded the vest and the underwear, wore my trouser and shirt and made for the last que for the temple.
Unfortunately it was arti time and I had to wait for a long time before I got my chance to get into the temple.
We generally get back to Katra after the visit to the Devi temple but I do not know what came over and I decided that I will climb further to the Bhairon temple (a good 2 km steep climb). On reaching there I rested for a while, had some desi ghee ka halwa and then started my downhill journey at midnight.
For most of us this would seem the easy part but I was really tired by then and my knees really hurt when i stupidly used the step (359 of them plus another couple in the early 100s). I reached the bottom of the hill (13 KMs now) at 3.30 AM.The use of the steps made me sweat once again and I actually did most of the downhill journey bare bodied. It was quite a ridiculous sight, a person sweating while going downhill but I was beyond caring.
Reached the hotel and found it extremely difficult climbing the four floors to the room (lift was not working).
Next morning I was back in Jammu and then took the flight to Delhi. A bus ride to Jaipur then ended my journey to Vaishno Devi.
The journey has always given me a lot of satisfaction and this time it was different as I actually did a non stop climb in my personal best time of two hours.
The idea of taking the bath at the ghats, the visit to the Bhairon Temple was all spur of the moment decisions and the accomplishment gave satisfaction.
I am sure everyone who has made the climb will have their own stories to tell.
Best regards
Manoj
A trip to the temple of Vaishno Devi should logically find a mention in my blog "One God" but as I am now going to describe my journey to the Temple and refrain from discussing anything else I find it more suitable to enter it in "Jaipurblogger".
The trip this time was not planned. In fact right from 2000, when I first visited the Temple very rarely have we been able to plan it in much advance. It is therefore strange that never have we faced any difficulty in reaching there and coming back home without any hiccups.
When we came back from Diu and Ahmedabad, I still had a lot of things to attend to at home in Jaipur and going to Vaishno Devi was furthest from my thoughts. I had Radhika's birthday coming up on 28th and we had also been discussing a get together of friends from SBBJ. But somehow all of a sudden Radhika insisted that plan the trip in between these events.
So I booked my plane tickets from Delhi to Jammu and back and started off for taking the bus from Narayansingh circle. I got the only vacant seat in the Bus and was off within two hours of having planned the trip.
The bus trip was uneventful if you ignore the fact that the lady (A Govt School teacher from Jaipur) sitting next to me insisted on pouring her heart out and telling me about the problems she was facing with her son. This young man was in his final year of Engineering at IIT and although a brilliant student, he was now adamant that he did not want to study any further. He had already got a job of teaching students on how to get thru GMAT (which he had cleared with flying colors) and was insisting that the Engineering Degree would not help help him in any significant way.
I would have agreed with his logic if he had taken this decision on joining but I felt he was a fool to drop out when he was almost thru. I told the lady about my trip to Vaishno Devi and took 52 rupees from her to put in the donation box at the temple. I asked he to visit the temle if her wish got fulfilled and her son agreed to complete his course.
I stayed the night at Mayur Vihar and took the morning flight to Jammu. When I boarded the flight I realized that I had booked a Executive class ticket on the KF flight. It was real comfortable journey. Jammu to Katra was covered by Taxi.
I had planned to stay in the Shrine Board hotel in Katra but the Taxi Driver, who obviously had some commission to make made me stay at a better place. I rested for an hour and then took off for the temple.
For people who have not visited the temple I will make the details as explanatory as possible.
You first have to que to get the Yatra Ticket at a place near Katra Bus Stand. Luckily I did not have to do this as the Hotel package was inclusive of the Yatra ticket supplied in the room. There is another que when you get to the foot of the climb. The frisking by the police takes place over here and sometimes (as it was with me this time) you do get a big crowd at this place.
I started climbing at 6 PM and when I did start I felt so comfortable that I decided that I will do the 11 KM uphill stretch in one go. Even after so many trips I once again forgot that the first couple of KMs is the toughest. I was fresh and full of excitement and therefore pressed hard over this stretch. By the time I finished this I was sweating profusely. I admit that the weather was humid but I was sweating much more than any of the other walkers. Anyway so after I had done the first stretch I took off my shirt so that I would at least have something fresh to wear when I entered the temple. My vest was wet and I thought then that with the difficult start covered and going up into the breeze I would have a dry vest by the time I completed the climb.
The journey is tough and people try to make it easy on themselves by singing songs praising the Devi. The facilities along the way are excellent with a cafe and restaurant located at every interval of two to three KMs. There are benches placed all along the route and in general the climbers encourage each other.
As decided by me I did not use the facilities and the bench and did a very fast non stop climb, completing the distance of 11 KM mostly uphill in two hours flat.
The vest was now so wet that the sweat had dripped into my underpants. When I completed the climb many people actually thought that I was roaming around after having taken a bath with my vest on. This gave me the idea of taking a bath at the ghats.
Most times when we have been to the temple we have booked a room at the top and have visited the temple after having a bath in the attached bathroom (reasonable facilities). So I reached the Men's ghat hoping that it would be a covered area. The ghat turned out to be an open space with taps. I took the bath with my underwear on and then discarded the vest and the underwear, wore my trouser and shirt and made for the last que for the temple.
Unfortunately it was arti time and I had to wait for a long time before I got my chance to get into the temple.
We generally get back to Katra after the visit to the Devi temple but I do not know what came over and I decided that I will climb further to the Bhairon temple (a good 2 km steep climb). On reaching there I rested for a while, had some desi ghee ka halwa and then started my downhill journey at midnight.
For most of us this would seem the easy part but I was really tired by then and my knees really hurt when i stupidly used the step (359 of them plus another couple in the early 100s). I reached the bottom of the hill (13 KMs now) at 3.30 AM.The use of the steps made me sweat once again and I actually did most of the downhill journey bare bodied. It was quite a ridiculous sight, a person sweating while going downhill but I was beyond caring.
Reached the hotel and found it extremely difficult climbing the four floors to the room (lift was not working).
Next morning I was back in Jammu and then took the flight to Delhi. A bus ride to Jaipur then ended my journey to Vaishno Devi.
The journey has always given me a lot of satisfaction and this time it was different as I actually did a non stop climb in my personal best time of two hours.
The idea of taking the bath at the ghats, the visit to the Bhairon Temple was all spur of the moment decisions and the accomplishment gave satisfaction.
I am sure everyone who has made the climb will have their own stories to tell.
Best regards
Manoj
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
My Vacation In India
Hello,
This year I finally took the longest vacation since 2000. When in State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, I was used to a one month vacation. I could take it without feeling of any guilt and as a right. In Axis Bank, taking a vacation for four weeks was unthinkable. An organisation where small absences from office is frowned upon a request for vacation was made trepidations and the Boss had to be molly coddled before you actually sent your application. When I landed in Kuwait small vacations seemed to suit me as I could make more than one trip to India. But this year I heard my kids complaining that they hardly felt my presence during a vacation as I would generally end up being busy in a lot of work and forget to relax.
The one month vacation was good.
After relaxing for ten days in Jaipur where I played a cricket match for Mentor Finance against SJ Public School and ate a lot of Jaipur delicacies, we spent four days in Ahmedabad.
The time I spent there was excellent. I played Table Tennis with Sanju, the brother of my brother in law and lost all but one game. It was however surprising that spectators found my attacking game more entertaining than his ultra defensive and calculative game. My nephew's Janoi was celebrated with pomp and ceremony and I MCed the reception. Once again with a little bit of immodesty I have to add that I did reasonably well.
After Ahmedabad we, my family and my youngest sister, her husband and daughter, made a trip to Somnath and Diu.
The Somnath Temple is a new Temple built over the ruins of an old temple complex famous for the series of attacks and loot by Allauddin Khilji.
Diu is a wonderful tourist destination untouched by the mad stampede of tourism. We stayed at Radhika Resort, a very reasonably priced, well located and equipped resort. The beach is not much to rave about but the food was good, the time spent in the swimming pool in company of the family was relaxing.
The trip ended with a return to Jaipur and further exploration of the eating joints.
One of the most enjoyable aspect of this trip was the connections I made with old friends. I talked to several of my class mates, SBBJ mates and Axis Bank mates. The old memories came flooding back and gave plenty of joy.
I am not sure if I can take a similarly long vacation in the future but memories of this vacation stored through pictures now pasted in the computer and the revival of old connections will keep me fresh and expectant till my next vacation.
Best regards,
Manoj
This year I finally took the longest vacation since 2000. When in State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, I was used to a one month vacation. I could take it without feeling of any guilt and as a right. In Axis Bank, taking a vacation for four weeks was unthinkable. An organisation where small absences from office is frowned upon a request for vacation was made trepidations and the Boss had to be molly coddled before you actually sent your application. When I landed in Kuwait small vacations seemed to suit me as I could make more than one trip to India. But this year I heard my kids complaining that they hardly felt my presence during a vacation as I would generally end up being busy in a lot of work and forget to relax.
The one month vacation was good.
After relaxing for ten days in Jaipur where I played a cricket match for Mentor Finance against SJ Public School and ate a lot of Jaipur delicacies, we spent four days in Ahmedabad.
The time I spent there was excellent. I played Table Tennis with Sanju, the brother of my brother in law and lost all but one game. It was however surprising that spectators found my attacking game more entertaining than his ultra defensive and calculative game. My nephew's Janoi was celebrated with pomp and ceremony and I MCed the reception. Once again with a little bit of immodesty I have to add that I did reasonably well.
After Ahmedabad we, my family and my youngest sister, her husband and daughter, made a trip to Somnath and Diu.
The Somnath Temple is a new Temple built over the ruins of an old temple complex famous for the series of attacks and loot by Allauddin Khilji.
Diu is a wonderful tourist destination untouched by the mad stampede of tourism. We stayed at Radhika Resort, a very reasonably priced, well located and equipped resort. The beach is not much to rave about but the food was good, the time spent in the swimming pool in company of the family was relaxing.
The trip ended with a return to Jaipur and further exploration of the eating joints.
One of the most enjoyable aspect of this trip was the connections I made with old friends. I talked to several of my class mates, SBBJ mates and Axis Bank mates. The old memories came flooding back and gave plenty of joy.
I am not sure if I can take a similarly long vacation in the future but memories of this vacation stored through pictures now pasted in the computer and the revival of old connections will keep me fresh and expectant till my next vacation.
Best regards,
Manoj
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
GETTING NEW FRIENDS
Hello,
When you think of your dearest friends what are the names that jump out immediately?
The names that jump out immediately are mainly from your childhood or maybe from the first days at your work place.
Why is it so?
Well if I have to give a one line answer the reply would be
"Your best friend is a friend who is with you not because of what you are but who you are."
Extending it further we can say that
"Your best friend is a friend who is nothing else but himself."
In most of our adult life we become too biased in our views and rigid in our choices.
We focus on results and not on processes.
It is therefore no surprise that we focus on what rather than who and fail to find the true friend later in life.
Getting a new best friend is as tough as climbing the Everest without oxygen. Possible but difficult.
It is therefore very important that we retain our friendships.
Best regards,
Manoj
When you think of your dearest friends what are the names that jump out immediately?
- Names of people you are now spending time with?
- Name of your spouse?
- Name of your present office colleagues?
The names that jump out immediately are mainly from your childhood or maybe from the first days at your work place.
Why is it so?
Well if I have to give a one line answer the reply would be
"Your best friend is a friend who is with you not because of what you are but who you are."
Extending it further we can say that
"Your best friend is a friend who is nothing else but himself."
In most of our adult life we become too biased in our views and rigid in our choices.
We focus on results and not on processes.
It is therefore no surprise that we focus on what rather than who and fail to find the true friend later in life.
Getting a new best friend is as tough as climbing the Everest without oxygen. Possible but difficult.
It is therefore very important that we retain our friendships.
Best regards,
Manoj
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Short Story - Recipe for a Disaster
Recipe for a disaster
Arpita had just lost the recipe competition. She sat in the rocking chair, going back and forth in the dark room. “How am I going to face people again”, she was thinking.
Her husband was the General Manager of Sam North Jute Mill and it was ‘Bada Khana’, a day when employees of all the five Jute mills of the ‘Duff group of companies’ got together to celebrate the year end.
It was a British legacy that had survived the exit of the Sahebs. ‘Bada Khana’ had changed from New Year eve to 26th January but the fanfare, pomp and ceremony had been retained. The celebrations included the very tough tennis finals for men and the equally exciting recipe competition for women. They had races like the wheel barrow race, the three legged race and a tug of war competition which was open to men, women and children but for the men, it was winning the tennis competition that mattered most and it had always been the recipe competition that the women focussed on.
Arpita was confident about her victory and the other competitors, who were aware of her exceptional culinary skills, were content that they competed to be second best. But she lost.
The fat and ugly Mrs. Pareek from Victoria was guffawing and she had heard loud clapping as she had made a hasty exit from the club house. She knew that her loss gave the competitors immense joy.
She gave them the reason to be happy. She was a snob. She was proud of her background, the wealth and fame of her family, the fact that she could address Satyajit Ray and Jyoti Basu as ‘Kaku’ and most importantly that she was the wife of the General Manager. She played the role of the ‘Memsahib’ to perfection. They had always been at the receiving end of her jibes and taunts on their lack of skills and polish.
Arpita was thinking about her husband.
Jiten was out with the men celebrating their victory in the Tennis court. He would not get to know about her loss for many days later. After all none of the men would have the courage to speak against the General Manager’s wife. But he would surely find out and then what?
Jiten was hard working, honest and proud of his achievements. Her loss and its manner would be a matter of shame for him.
The couple had moved here just about a year ago and this was their first ‘Bada Khana’. Arpita was an expert cook and loved to show off her skills with rare desserts recipes (collected during her husband’s assignments in tea gardens in Assam and Munnar). The women gave her the sobriquet ‘Queen of the Ladle’.
She had waited for the ‘Bada Khana’ to stamp her authority.
She knew that she would win. She had played her cards properly and trusted Mrs. Robbins.
The Robbins, the only Anglo Indian family in the mill, an old couple, stayed opposite the Yagniks. Mrs. Robbins had been a nurse with the British Army and had met her husband, an engineer in the army when they were both posted in Burma during the Second World War. They had shifted to Kolkata after the war and decided to stay back when the British left India.
Arpita met Mrs. Robbins the day she gave her first party in her new house.
‘My dear, are you having a party tonight’, Mrs. Robbins had asked Arpita.
Arpita was embarrassed. She was told that the Robbins never accepted invitations. She had invited everyone else. ‘Yes’, she said, ‘why don’t you come as well’.
‘No, my child’, said Mrs. Robbins, ‘we are too old for such outings.’
‘Do you need help?’ she asked.
Since then Mrs. Robbins had always helped her plan the desserts for her party menu.
***
Arpita presented the ‘Crepe Suzette’ - A common dessert that promised something special. Arpita felt confident. The feelings seemed justified when Sister Margaret, the nun from France, who was a special invitee, went gaga over the whiff of ‘Cordon Rouge’ flambéed over the crepe and declared ‘For me this is the winner’.
‘Why does your recipe have no mention of bananas’? Ms. Sinha asked Arpita. She was reading the recipe after she tasted the crepe. Ms. Susan Sinha was the head chef of the ‘Orient’ in Kolkata and the other special invitee for the event.
Arpita snickered. ‘Bananas in Crepe Suzette’! She exclaimed. This raised a giggle – the other ladies too had never heard of bananas in Crepe Suzette.
‘Yes, it is the bananas that make the crepe yielding and easy to fold. Is this your recipe?’ Ms. Sinha persisted.
Arpita was flustered now. ‘It’s from an old book’, she said.
‘I have the recipe in my diary’, Ms. Sinha went again. ‘I have bananas in the pancakes all the time’ and the only other person I know who would do it is Mrs. Robbins, my mother. Are you sure it is not her recipe?’
Her perfidy uncovered, Arpita ran out of the club.
She wondered if ten would be enough. The sleeping pills lay on the table next to her. She had already taken the ninth when the doorbell rang.
‘Hello dear, are you in?’ she heard Mrs. Robbins call out. ‘I am sorry about what happened. I told them that I had put in the bananas without your knowledge when I was helping you.’
Arpita tried to get up from her chair but it was too late. The pills took over. Mrs. Robbins did not have the strength to break open the heavy wooden door.
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